A year wiser? Aggies soon will find out

COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M played three softies to start the season last year. The Aggies played three alleged pushovers to start the season this year.

The result each time was a 3-0 record. Last year, A&M dropped its next three games to Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Kansas State.

“Everybody that was here last year remembers that we went from 3-0 to 3-3,” defensive lineman Lucas Patterson said Monday.

Now, the Aggies play at OSU, owners of the top-ranked offense in the nation, on Thursday night on ESPN; against No. 15 Arkansas in Arlington on Oct. 9; and at home against 4-0 Missouri on Oct. 16 over its next three games. How can they prevent what happened last year from happening this year?

“We’re a better team this year,” Patterson explained.

A&M coach Mike Sherman pointed to Patterson’s side of the ball as the primary reason why this year’s 3-0 start is different than last year’s 3-0 start.

“I think we’re playing better defense now,” Sherman said. “We’re a year older and a year wiser. We’re not as fragile as we were a year ago.”

It’s easy to forget now, but the Aggies led the Razorbacks 10-0 last year in Cowboys Stadium before crumbling in the second quarter, when Arkansas outscored A&M 23-0 in that period and eventually prevailed 47-19.

“When things went south in the fourth ball game last year against Arkansas – and they went south very fast – I don’t think we handled that very well,” Sherman said. “(Now) our team is more mentally mature to be able to handle the adversity and the bumps in the road that come in a game.

“If you can’t handle those things it’s difficult to win games consistently.”

On Sept. 18 of this year at Kyle Field, the Aggies trailed Florida International 20-6 headed into the fourth quarter before rallying for a 27-20 victory.

“I never would have drawn the FIU game up the way it turned out, but it was a learning experience for our guys in knowing how to handle themselves and fighting through it,” Sherman said. “We handled the adversity in that game. We’ve used it as a teaching moment.”

It’s safe to say there will be plenty of “teaching moments” on Thursday night at OSU. A&M fans, too, will find out in short order if the Aggies, while certainly a year older, are truly a year wiser.